US: New York’s COVID-19 hospitalizations have jumped by 70% since the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday, prompting officials and businesses alike to reassess their policies in an attempt to blunt a winter virus surge and the onset of the new omicron variant.
Governor Kathy Hochul on Tuesday said that rise in hospitalizations across the state — along with a 58% jump in cases per 100,000 people during the same period — was the impetus for a new statewide indoor mask mandate for businesses without a vaccine requirement. While cases and hospitalizations had been going up mostly in upstate New York earlier in the month, the increasing trend levels are now present across the state.
Hochul said the omicron variant didn’t factor directly into her mask mandate decision but that it’s an area of concern. The state has identified 38 omicron cases, and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the variant now makes up 3% of all sequenced cases in the U.S., up from 0.1% in early December.
“If I sound a little frustrated, perhaps I am,” Hochul said at a virus briefing on Tuesday in New York City. “Despite our desires to have this behind us, we aren’t quite there yet.”
A vaccine requirement for all private-sector employers in New York City also goes into effect on Dec. 27.
The city’s shift in focus to private businesses comes after successful vaccine campaigns targeted toward public-sector employees, which led to the public workforce being mostly vaccinated and to multiple legal challenges won by the city and state. On Monday, the U.S. Supreme court left in force a health-care worker vaccine mandate.
– NDTV